Owners of Competing Hollywood Publications Settle Copyright Lawsuit

In the fiercely competitive world of Hollywood trade publications, nobody likes to say they're sorry. But the parent company of the Hollywood Reporter has agreed to do so in order to settle a lawsuit filed against it by the owner of two of its competitors: Variety and Deadline.com.

Penske Media Corp., the Santa Monica (CA) company run by Jay Penske, sued the Hollywood Reporter's parent, Prometheus Global Media, in September of 2011, alleging copyright infringement. The complaint alleged that the Hollywood Reporter's website stole code from TVline.com, a television-news website owned by Penske Media. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, asked for more than $5 million in damages. According to recently filed court documents, Prometheus agreed to pay Penske $162,500 in order to settle the case. In addition, the two sides agreed on a statement reading in part: "Prometheus admits that the Hollywood Reporter copied source code from Penske Media Corporation's website www.tvline.com; Prometheus and the Hollywood Reporter have apologized to Penske Media."